An effort to land a massive Pacific Rim free trade
agreement within weeks is under way, raising the prospect the wide-ranging
Trans-Pacific Partnership could dominate the final stretch of the Canadian
election campaign.

The costs of entry to the Trans-Pacific Partnership could
include exposing the Canadian auto parts sector, which employs 80,000 people,
to far more foreign competition and eroding the preferential position the
industry enjoys under the North American Free-Trade Agreement (NAFTA). It could
also cause headaches for dairy farmers by opening their sheltered industry to
significantly more imports.

Two to three days of talks will be held in the U.S. city
of Atlanta. Free trade rules for most of the 31 areas covered by the TPP were
settled at the last round of talks in July. But intense disagreement remains on
dairy products, automobiles, intellectual property for pharmaceuticals, and
other areas where national interests are at stake. Chief negotiators will meet
ahead of the ministerial talks, seeking to lay the groundwork for consensus.

From Bloomberg BNA

Sept. 17 (BNA) -- The next round of Trans-Pacific Partnership
(TPP) talks will take place in Atlanta from Sept. 23–Oct. 4, with the trade
ministers from the 12 Pacific Rim countries meeting Sept. 30–Oct. 1, several
non-U.S. TPP sources told Bloomberg BNA.

The sources said an announcement on the conclusion, in
principle, of the agreement is expected Oct. 1, adding that the chief
negotiators are scheduled to stay until Oct. 4 to clear up any loose ends.

The best trade policy for any country of course is unilateral trade liberalization, both in tariff and non-tariff measures. Keep trade negotiations to the minimum, involving only products and services that can affect public health and safety, security. The rest of products and services, allow free trade, imports and exports.

The second best trade policy is global, multilateral trade liberalization under the WTO. But both unilateral and global liberalization are far out at the moment.

So the third best trade policy is regional liberalization, like the ASEAN free trade area (AFTA), NAFTA, EC, and so on. TPP is along this line. So a successful TPP Agreement will, overall, be a good and positive thing for the 12 member-countries. I wish that the TPPA will become a reality within the year.

Meanwhile, there was a good presentation made by Dr. Ramon Clarete during the UPSE-Ayala
Economic Forum in Manila last October 23, 2014, Going Regional: Which Mega Trade Deals Should the
Philippines Join?